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do you know anyone that cannot use chopsticks?

yesterday, a coworker came to my office looking for a plastic fork. i offered him one of my clean, cheap bamboo chopsticks i keep stashed away just in case.

he said, he didnt know how to use them. and he was eating noodles. i offered him a quick lesson, but he declined. i think he walked back to the restaurant or went across the street to Safeway..to get a plastic fork.

I used chopsticks improperly for years. Then, sometime after my university days, I decided that I should probably learn and practice how to use them properly. Thankfully I did that because it was nice to visit my eventual-in-laws and be able to use chopsticks properly.

Now, I can't even do the old scissors-method I used to use for chopsticks.

I can see why a lot of folks either don't know how to or cannot comfortably use chopsticks.

But they *are* handy, even in the kitchen before you get to the dining table. I always had a set in my gear bag when I went to class, and they almost always came in handy. Just last night I was going two-handed with a set in each hand in order to flip stuff that I was seasoning before shoving into the oven. Whisk stuff, stir stuff, flip stuff, pick up stuff... the very definition of a multi-purpose tool

I keep a lot of them in my kitchen for cooking tasks, including several pair that are extra long with ridges towards the business end to facilitate grip on food when manipulating. Far too underused in the kitchen.

And yes, I think most of my family doesn't know how to use chopsticks...or at least are fairly uncomfortable with it.

is it true that chop sticks are traditionally used only in the right hand?

Traditionally, doing anything left-handed is a bad thing and is beaten out of you. Well, not literally for the most part, but it's worked out of you. I started off as a lefty and was converted to a righty - but it also means for some things I'm now ambidextrous, like when using chopsticks

At Tosho's recent demo session, someone from the audience asked "what about lefties?" in terms of working at the sushi bar and apprenticing. The response from the sushi chef was something to the effect of "they aren't going to change how things are done to suit you, so you are forced to become a righty".

I see one such person every time I shave. Of the three types of chopsticks I have tried I had worst experience with the Korean ones. They were made of metal, square edges and sharper than some of my old kitchen knives.

I have always wanted to learn how to use a pair properly but so far it is very comical experience every time i try.

Hold the chopsticks together in your hand, no gap between them, resting on the web of your hand and holding the pair with your middle, index and thumb. Push down on the top chopstick with your index finger, push it back up with your thumb. Like opening and closing a set of scissors.

Not graceful, not that flexible, but worked for me for many, many years. Got me some questions from more distant relatives when they saw me doing things that way, too. "Do you know how to use chopsticks?"

Hold the chopsticks together in your hand, no gap between them, resting on the web of your hand and holding the pair with your middle, index and thumb. Push down on the top chopstick with your index finger, push it back up with your thumb. Like opening and closing a set of scissors.

Not graceful, not that flexible, but worked for me for many, many years. Got me some questions from more distant relatives when they saw me doing things that way, too. "Do you know how to use chopsticks?"

To be fair, that is common technique where I live. Most folks I know do not hold chopsticks "correctly", and that includes several generations of Chinese/Taiwanese/Hakka/Japanese